The Kansas Jayhawks’ season, unfortunately, came to an end earlier today, as the Jayhawks fell out of the NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 loss to the Duke Blue Devils.
The ACC side notched a stellar 15-4-1 record under first-year head coach Kieran Hall. Hall had just taken over from iconic coach Robbie Church. Church had earned four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament in his tenure, which started in 2001.
Settled at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C., the Jayhawks fell behind after 37 minutes after a shanked clearance inside the box fell from a cross from the outside of the box, eventually fell to Kat Rader, who then squared her pass to the right foot of Mia Minestrella, who gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead before the half.
At the end of the first 45, the Jayhawks finished with six shots, sitting just one behind the Duke. To exude Kansas’ dominance, the Jayhawks added a monster seven corners, yet just could not find the telling touch. A them throughout the day.
The biggest moment of the second half was a penalty call, which went the way of Duke, as in the 47th minute, Rader stamped her authority on the game to ice the score at 2-0. The penalty was given after a late challenge from Jordan Fjelstad on a pass that was just nicked away was deemed a penalty.
While Kansas keeper Sophie Dawe made the initial save, the ball was parried out right back to Rader, who finished the game off.
Overall, on the night, Kansas forced just two shots on target and despite creating the odd chance, could never push the Big 12 side back into the fight.
Despite the loss for the Jayhawks, the rise under head coach Nate Lie is still one of the nation’s best. Kansas finished the year with a 16-6-3 record, and Lie’s impressive resume has been springboarded with back-to-back tournament appearances. The path to this year’s Sweet 16 included a Big 12 Championship berth against the BYU Cougars; unlike last season, however, the Cougars managed a 1-0 win to stop the Jayhawks from repeating as tournament champions.
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